Lady Macbeth Manipulative

In the play Macbeth, by Shakespeare, Shakespeare criticizes the violence and cruelty that is present in masculinity even though masculinity was seen as a strong and respected trait in men. In the beginning of Macbeth Shakespeare views masculinity as a trait of a warrior and a protector. This is shown during the war between Scotland, the Norwegian King, and Scottish rebels. A servant brings a report to Duncan and tells him that they (Scotland) are winning the war and Macbeth is a big part of their success.

Lady Macbeth believes that being kind, loyal and worried about the outcome of actions are all acts that are questionable in terms of one’s masculinity. She very cunningly uses masculinity to manipulate him and get her

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, masculinity is a recurring theme. The play explores various aspects of masculinity like bravery, loyalty, and honor through characters like Banquo and Macduff and using Macbeth and Lady Macbeth to demonstrate a more destructive and toxic approach to masculinity. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth is brave, loyal and respected. But his ambition to become king changes his idea of masculinity to one of strength, ambition and ruthlessness. Lady Macbeth takes an even more aggressive approach to masculinity, and pushes Macbeth into the murder of King Duncan and his own friend, Banquo.

As we begin the 7th act of scene 1 we see Macbeth reasoning himself out of killing the king using smart reasoning, this is quickly destroyed however after Lady Macbeth questions his manhood. “When you durst do it, then you were a man; / And to be more than what you were, you would / Be so much more the man. ”(Shakespeare 1.7.48-51). Lady Macbeth is using toxic masculinity here by questioning if Macbeth is truly a man if he were to go back on his word of killing the king.

Well Lady Macbeth, who is dead set on having absolute power, disagrees with that. She convinces Macbeth to kill, to cover up the murders, and tries to convince him that these murders will get them to the top. Lady Macbeth calls upon the witches and states, “unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty” (Macbeth Act 1 Scene 5 lines 31 and 31). This shows that while in the pursuit of power, Lady Macbeth wanted it so much that she asked the witches to “unsex” her and make her more like man. But along with that you see the theme of gender roles are uncertain which ties into Lady Macbeth leading Macbeth in this pursuit of power, also giving him the ambition that she wants him to

This quote symbolizes not only Lady Macbeth threatening his manhood. However, Macbeth's acceptance of the prevalent male archetype during the time period demonstrates that he is

but is then cast aside by her husband at the end. Shakespeare thus presents masculinity in both a positive and negative light. In Act 1, Shakespeare presents Macbeth with admired masculine qualities countered with Lady Macbeth criticising his idiosyncrasies. Lady Macbeth’s definition of a man is disparate to others’.

The traits Lady Macbeth wish to portray also exhibit the traits needed to be a man. Lady Macbeth states, “Come, you spirits that tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty make thick my blood stop up the access and passage to remorse”(1.5.47-51). In other words, Lady Macbeth is willing to give up her femininity to become a man so that she may in turn, possess manly qualities that would be unethical to possess as a woman. She wants to become a man so that her “blood [can be] thick”, and she can feel no remorse when having “direst cruelty”; all of these traits would help the plot to kill King Duncan. Furthermore, the traits Lady macbeth wishes to have are also the ones she wants to see manifested in Macbeth.

The male characters in Macbeth all carry a sense of masculinity with them that they often used to reject femininity. There is a masculine warrior mindset when it comes to these characters and they want to separate themselves from femininity as much as possible. Even when terrible things happen such as families being slaughtered, characters are told to convert their grief to anger (Lutz 195). Throughout most of Macbeth, “the play’s male characters consistently espouse a masculinity that disavows or rejects femininity or effeminacy. Macbeth’s tragedy, in this view, is that he cannot fully separate himself from femininity in the way his masculine warrior ideology demands” (195).

Instead, Lady Macbeth would rather embrace traditionally masculine traits such as ambition, aggression, and power. This desire to reject her femininity and embrace masculine traits reflects Lady Macbeth's hunger for power and her willingness to do whatever it takes to obtain it, even if it means defying societal norms.

Lady Macbeth plots to usurp King Duncan so Macbeth can ascend to the throne take his place. After inviting Duncan to their castle, Lady Macbeth creates a plan for Macbeth to execute Duncan in his sleep. As demonstrated in this quote, “That tend on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Come to my woman's breasts And take my milk for gall, you murdering ministers, Wherever in your sightless substances ”(Macbeth, 1.5 47-56).

In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, Macbeth, the protagonist desperately tries to live up to the image of a man that his society portrays. The search for his manhood leads him to violent acts that inevitably get him killed. In this tragedy, male and female roles are constantly discussed and defined. Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth equate masculinity to violence and aggression. They both believe that in order to be a real man, then a man must perform violent acts when necessary.

“Come, you spirits, That tend on mortal thoughts,/unsex me here, And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/ Of dire cruelty” (1.5.41-44). Lady Macbeth is the personification of male dominance, ruthlessness and violence. She hopes that she could take control of all action. She yearns to be a man and her implication is that she is more masculine than Macbeth. Her drive and violent nature is more akin to men and their masculinity.

This is explored largely through the way in which Shakespeare reverses gender roles, when Lady Macbeth’s obsession with masculinity leads her into crying out to become a man. This is then proven through sexual imagery “Unsex me here, and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full direst cruelty” This quote is full of horrific intent as Lady Macbeth calls upon evil spirit’s to take away her femininity so that she will be able to become more cruel and violent and not have to seek

Lady Macbeth, Macbeth’s right hand woman is one of Shakespeare's most famous female characters. She is portrayed by society and critiques as an evil, horrible person as it was her idea to kill Duncan. Others such as I believe, Lady Macbeth is a multifaceted character as she has many different traits contrary to just pure evil. She has an immense amount of control, ambition and guilt. These three traits correlate with one another to form the unique individual Lady Macbeth is.